Get A Body Like David Beckham With EA Sports Active2: ParentDish Review

I wonder how many boxes of Quality Street the Beckhams get through at Christmas? I bet our family could beat them on that one. But it doesn't matter, because we've been trying out David Beckham's choice of fitness product, EA Sports Active 2. He's a global ambassador for the brand which has recently launched - just in time to get all that winter flab shifted.We tried out the Wii version (it's available for PS3 and Xbox too). As well as the game disc, in the box you also get a resistance band, a heart rate monitor and a motion sensor system which fits around your arm and leg to track your progress onscreen. Apparently the heart rate monitor is David Beckham's favourite bit of the package.

This system makes other workout games look like...well, games really. There are around 70 individual exercises to suit every level of fitness. It really feels like a proper workout.If you have a Wii balance board, you can use it for some of the exercises, but there's plenty to do without it. And unlike the Wii Fit, this system doesn't measure you and relies on you to be honest about your weight. Though it does track your heart rate, so will know if you've been telling porky pies about your consumption of porky pies.

It's priced at around £80 - or to put it another way, the same as a couple of sessions with a personal trainer, or a month at a high end gym. But the great thing about in-home systems like this is that you can do them whenever you get time, with no babysitters to book. So if you want to get some exercise and can't or won't leave the house to do it, with this there's no excuse. It offers a nine week fitness program, perfect for kicking off your post-Christmas health plan. By the spring our whole family (even the cat) intends to look like the picture of David Beckham above.

As well as David Beckham, EA Sports Active 2 is picking up other celebrity fans. Here are Melinda Messenger, Ben Shephard and Olympian Victoria Pendleton trying it out:

EA Sports Active 2 is out now on all major games formats, RRP £79.99 Currently reduced to a bargain £49 at Amazon